CLS2000

Introduction to critical theory

Alexander Garc'a Düttmann and Claire Colebrook

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton
* Prohibitions: CRT2010/CRT3010/ENH2060/ENH3060

Objectives On the successful completion of this subject students should have learned how to read and critique some of the major texts of critical theory and post-structuralism, how to use the terminology of contemporary critical theory with confidence and how to make their own writing responsive to the issues considered in critical theory.

Synopsis This subject is designed to introduce students to some of those key contemporary ideas about cultural, literary and philosophical issues which are now generally brought together under the heading `critical theory'. It aims to present an overview of leading figuees within twentieth century critical theory, including Theodor Adorno, Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Julia Kristeva and Gilles Deleuze. The subject will also encourage students to discuss the issues that these thinkers raise. How have their views affected the way we look at society? Why are their ideas so challenging and so often resisted? Is it possible to avoid over-simplifying their thought? Each class will focus on a piece of writing by one of them. Part of the class work will be explanatory, explicating difficult material and making clear its importance. Part of the class work will be exploratory, inviting students to develop the issues raised by the material in relation to their own reading and analytical needs.

Assessment Class test (2 hours): 30%
* Seminar paper (equivalent to 1000 words): 15%
* Essays or essay (3000 words): 50%
* Seminar participation: 5%

Prescribed texts

A reader containing other short theoretical texts for study will be made available at the beginning of the course.

Recommended texts

Adorno T Prisms
Barthes R Image-music-text Fontana
Barthes R Mythologies Paladin
Derrida J Positions U Chicago P
Hawkes T Structuralism and since Methuen
Moi T Sexual/textual politics Methuen
Moi T The Kristeva reader
Rabinow P The Foucault reader Pantheon